Beautiful Moon Lit Landscape Lighting
Posted by Kathleen | Filed under Landscape Lighting Effects, Landscape Lighting Trees
Though there are many outdoor landscape lighting approaches I’m a fan of, perhaps one of my favorites has to be moon lighting. The objective in this style of lighting is to create the appearance of moonlight passing through the branches of trees. Done right, dappled shadows fall on the ground lending a fantasy feel to the area. Done wrong, branches seem to float strangely with no supporting trunk and maintenance becomes a pain.
One particular drawback to this type of landscape lighting is that landscape lighting kits are likely not going to include the lights, fasteners or louvers you will need to pull this style of lighting off. Most kits available in your hardware store offer collections of post-mounted lights only. I’ve found a tree mounting kit online but be aware that this kit only includes mounting harnesses, not lights.
To properly moon light an area requires an appropriate tree. Meandering branches, full leaves and interesting bark all lend themselves well to this approach. If your tree isn’t worth showing off or won’t create interesting shadows when lit from above and within, it really isn’t worth going through the effort this effect requires.
This approach requires getting up into your tree to place downward facing lights in the branches. That should immediately bring two things to mind, viewing perspective and maintenance. Let’s address viewing perspective first.
Consider where visitors will view your moonlit tree for best impact. With that spot in mind, picture three locations. Location 1 is the t
ree trunk. Location 2 is a point in the branches between the viewer and the tree trunk. Location 3 is the viewer’s position. Place your lighting in your tree branches so as best to angle the light away from the viewing position (see illustration).
Speaking of viewing angles, try not to place your lamps at more than a 25 to 30 degree angle from vertical. Over-angling your lighting could make what’s beautiful from within your garden a real nuisance to your neighbors.
That said, if you want to create a pool of shadows encompassing a broad area of the ground or if you have a bench directly beneath the tree, visible light sources may be unavoidable. To best minimize glare, you have two solutions you can employ. Use louvers to help angle light away from primary viewing spots and go for fairly low luminescence. The louvers are simply the equivalent of blinds for landscape lighting which angle the direction of light or block the source from view.
Bulb strengths and types as applied to landscape lighting of any kind is an extensive topic better held for an entire post of its own but, for moon lighting, recognize that you want to go fairly low strength. For small trees with low placed lights, you may end up going as low as 20-watt up to about 50-watt for large trees. Factors which will dictate the appropriate wattage are the height of light placement and density of foliage.
I mentioned maintenance as an important factor because, unlike other landscape lighting applications, moon lighting will require more effort to maintain. After all, your yearly maintenance will require you getting back up into that tree to adjust angels, fasteners, change bulbs or reaffix cabling. As your tree grows or spreads new branches, light positions that worked before may need to be adjusted. All in all, I think the effect is worth the effort, but if you are elderly or suffer from any physica
l challenges, this is one application in which you may want to give serious consideration to hiring professionals or friends to assist you.
One final item worth noting is the common mistake of failing to light the trunk of the tree that is moon lit. This oversight leaves the branches and leaves appearing to float unattached in the air as what is lit becomes visible and what isn’t, well, isn’t. While that may seem to carry some interesting appeal, the result doesn’t translate well in reality. The brain expects branches and leaves to be anchored by a tree trunk. With that in mind, remember that a good moon lighting application should, in most cases, include and up-lit tree trunk.
The dappled shadows of a moon lit tree falling on a path or seating area are beautiful. If you have the right tree in which to apply this technique and are willing to go through the effort, I highly recommend this as a wonderful landscape lighting application. Just be sure to be safe and recognize that professional help may be needed for this one.
Tags: landscape lighting, moon lighting, moon lit, tree
Dramatic Landscape Lighting Effects with Mirroring
Posted by Kathleen | Filed under Landscape Lighting Effects
You’ve most likely marveled at the beauty of a mountain scene reflected in a still lake or an architectural feature such as the Lincoln Memorial or the Washington Memorial inverted in the reflecting pool. This stunning effect can be emulated in your own backyard and scaled up dramatically by incorporating landscape lighting.
The benefit of using landscape lighting to reproduce a mirrored image of a particular garden feature is that the result is even more dramatic at night. The absence of light on the water of a reflecting pond leaves it black and of apparently infinite depth. The trick is to illuminate the feature you want to mirror rather than the water in which it is to be mirrored.
The image at the beginning of this post, of the reflecting pool at the Tomb of Hafez in Iran, shows how beautiful illuminated architecture and trees appear when reflected in still water. A gazebo or decorative wall can be equally stunning but don’t forget statuary which can be dramatically set and lit to reflect.
As important as what you are lighting is how you are lighting it. Your objective is to illuminate only the feature or features you want reflected. In laying out your lighting scheme, do your best to minimize the amount of light that directly reaches the water feature. It should only be light reflected from the object that reaches the water.
Finally, as you layout your design and plan your mirrored pool, consider perspective. This is a striking lighting plan and it should be planned with striking impact in mind. Consider the flow of traffic through your garden or positions of view such as from a main window in the home, from a seating area in your garden or an approaching path that brings the stunning reflection suddenly into view.
Planning landscape lighting to mirror an object takes a commitment of time and the end result requires a commitment of space. A reflecting pool isn’t something you can just relocate on a whim so if you opt for this garden lighting strategy, you want to do your best to get it right from the start. The payoff can be the show-piece of your garden, day or night; something that guests won’t be able to help but notice and remember.
Tags: garden lighting, landscape lighting, lighting effects, mirroring, reflecting pond, reflecting pool
